Rising to fame in the twenties and early thirties, Ruth Etting was renowned for her great beauty, her gorgeous voice and her tragic life. She starred on Broadway, made movies in Hollywood, married a mobster, had numerous hit-records, fell in love and was known as America’s Sweetheart of Song.
This site is maintained by Cheryl Spelts, the granddaughter of one of Ruth Etting’s cousins. The submission of additional information and documentation on her life and career is encouraged and greatly appreciated!
News
Get the latest scoop on new Ruth Etting albums, pending movies about her life, videos and photos from her heyday, and anything else new and exciting that comes along!
- AUDIO | Cigarettes, Cigars
- VIDEO | Close Your Eyes, 1933
- BroadwayWorld.com: A Tribute to Ruth Etting
- Water for Elephants
- Gift of Gab this Saturday at the Billy Wilder Theatre
- More News...
Songs
Ruth Etting had over 60 hit recordings and recorded hundreds of other songs. Among her best in the Jazz Age are Button Up Your Overcoat and Mean to Me, and in the depression, Ten Cents A Dance. Her versions of Shine On Harvest Moon, Let Me Call You Sweetheart and You Made Me Love You became her signature songs.
Broadway
Irving Berlin suggested Ruth Etting for the Ziegfeld Follies and she was hired after Ziegfeld checked her ankles, not her voice. She appeared in the Follies of 1927. In 1929 she starred with Eddie Cantor in Whoopee! In 1930 she made 135 appearances in Simple Simon with Ed Wynn. In 1931 she appeared in the very last Follies, shortly before Ziegfeld’s death.
Movies
Ruth Etting made a string of movie shorts and three full-length features. Her big break came in Roman Scandals with Eddie Cantor and Lucille Ball in a bit part. Then came Gift of Gab and Hips Hips Hooray.
Photo Album
Our Ruth Etting photo album has over 50 images, including publicity photos, movie and theatre posters, sheet music, and magazine features.
History
Ruth Etting made her first record in 1926 and her last in 1937. She starred on Broadway, made movies in Hollywood, married a mobster, had number-one-hit-records, fell in love and was known as America’s Sweetheart of Song. Get the facts on her life!
Music
Ruth Etting’s music is available on CD! There are currently eight full-length CDs available, plus several compilations that contain at least one of her songs. Real Audio files allow you to listen to her music right now!
Here’s a great audio clip of Ruth Etting singing Cigarettes, Cigars. The song features lyrics by Mack Gordon and music by Harry Revel, and Ruth first sang it in the Ziegfeld Follies of 1931. Click here for the lyrics!
Just found this slideshow on YouTube featuring some photos of Ruth Etting that I’ve never seen before! Always cool! And it’s all set to Ruth’s version of “Close Your Eyes” a song written by Bernice Petkere, in 1933. Ruth recorded … Continue reading
BroadwayWorld.com: A Tribute to Ruth Etting
From broadwayworld.com: Martha Lorin in ‘Love Me or Leave Me’ at Milford Theater Sunday, May 15, 2011 Martha Lorin performed at Milford Theater last night. It was the first preview of their new show “Love Me Or Leave Me – … Continue reading
Water for Elephants, a new film starring Reese Witherspoon and Robert Pattinsonis, is set for release on April 22, 2011. “Veterinary school student Jacob (Robert Pattinson) meets and falls in love with Marlena (Reese Witherspoon), a star performer in a … Continue reading
One of Ruth Etting’s three biggest films is being shown this week in Los Angeles, so if you’re in the area, it’s a chance to finally see a formerly “lost” film! The UCLA Film and Television Archive’s salute to vaudevillians … Continue reading
Ruth Etting sings It Was So Beautiful, which charted at #13 in 1932. The name of the film is omitted from the YouTube listing, but based on the costumes, the year, and the fact that it was produced by Vidafone, … Continue reading
Universal Music Group, the largest music conglomerate in the United States, has donated a collection of approximately 200,000 metal, glass and lacquer master discs dating between 1926 and 1948 to the Library of Congress. – Matthew Perpetua, Rolling Stone, January … Continue reading
Some ideas for Christmas…
In the mood to add to your music collection this holiday season? Why not try something here, from Amazon.com.
Even celebrities go on vacation! Louie Despres blogs on a site called Give Me the Good Old Days and in January of 2009 he posted some snapshots of Hollywood stars and other celebrities in Hawaii, found in an old scrapbook … Continue reading
Back in November I posted about two new collections of Ruth Etting’s music that were released the month before, but what I didn’t realize is that there was actually a third collection released during that same time period. Hits Of … Continue reading
